Every time I eat, it seems like almost immediately my stomach is growling again. I don't understand because I'm following the updated zone guide and measuring and everything. My meals and snacks are HUGE!

Here is a typical day for me. 14 blocks

Breakfast- 4 hardboiled egg whites and 1 oz meat
1 cup of strawberries
1 apple
9 almonds

Mid morning snack- 1oz meat
1/2 cup grapes
3 almonds

Lunch- 4 oz meat
1 apple
1 serving of a vegetable, whatever is leftover for dinner
1 cup of strawberries
12 almonds

Afternoon snack- 1oz meat
1/2 grapes
3 almonds

Dinner- 4 oz meat
2-3 cups of vegetables
1 apple or some fruit to fill the remaining carb blocks
12 almonds

After dinner- 1oz meat
Some type of fruit or veggie
3 almonds

Any insight? I follow the paleo diet as well but I don't think that makes a huge difference or not.

Some tips about you food diary that might help:

1. Most of the carbohydrate you eat should be in the form of vegetables. (More than 90% of the carbohydrate in you menu is from fruit.)

2. At least one additional monounsaturated fat block should be added for every fat free(or close to at free) protein block you eat (such as the egg whites in your breakfast). The block plan was designed assuming each protein block contain about 1.5 grams fat, which is half the minimum amount of fat needed for Zone balance (minimum is 3 g fat for every 7 g protein). The other half of the required fat (another 1.5 g) is in the monounsaturated fat block (1.5 fat in each F block).

Kara

You post is very familiar to me. It reminds me of Larry a few months back. He is very active like you. Sue was able to assist him a great deal. I am hoping he will chime in with his experience as well.

Till then. Wondering, how much water do you drink a day ? what do you workouts look like ?

Sue- I am such a picky eater! All the vegetables I do love aren't the most favorable. And the ones I can eat that are favorable, it seems like I have to eat so much of them! 3 cups of broccoli is a lot for one block of carbs! My favorite veggies are sweet potatoes and carrots. I eat salad when I have spinach but then again, 20 cups of spinach is crazy! I eat 2 when I eat it. I know I eat a lot of fruit and I need to cut back on it. I'm trying to learn to love other veggies. It's just hard. My parents never forced me to eat any and I always ate junk food. My palate has changed, I do eat broccoli and green beans now and I never ate them before.

I can increase the fat intake, that's not a problem. I love almonds and could eat them all day. I also have some paleo nutella and almond butters that I can use. So again, not a problem!

I drink well over 8 glasses of water a day. It is the only fluid I drink and has been since March.

My workouts vary, I have a crossfit app that I do on my own at the gym. I choose one WOD and do it by myself and scaled down. Afterwards, I do about 10 minutes of cardio, either on the elliptical or on the treadmill. Sometimes randomly during the week, I might go for a long walk/run, but not always. I go to the gym twice a week and do what I mentioned above. Then on Saturday's is my BIG crossfit workout. It lasts anywhere from an hour to two hours. Most of my calories burned for the week come from that workout. Since I started doing that, I try not to work out every day like I used too.

Hi Kara - yep, Sue helped me through the same issue so please keep posting what you eat and how it makes you feel. She'll be able to help you a great deal. That much fruit is probably spiking you insulin and berries are the best choice for fruit.

Your picture looks like you are lean already. Are you trying to lose weight? I ask because I started the Zone lean and I've noticed some others who don't need to lose have had the same hunger issue. The body goes into fat burning mode but there isn't enough fat to burn. I currently eat 1 extra block of fat for each protein block so instead of 3g fat per protein block I eat 4.5g. So, you may have that option if changing much of your fruit to vegetables still leaves you hungry.

I'm laying down in that picture. Lol. But yes, I am trying to lose weight. I have lots of excess body fat and around 15 pounds to my goal weight. Currently, according to the calculations from the book, I am at 22% body fat. Which I know is ideal for women but I want a more athletic looking body.

Larry

Knew you would be a good source for Kara. :-)


I am thinking on the same lines as both you and Sue.

Kara

I am liking what both Sue and Larry are saying. You will need to dial in who you are. We each make adjustments with are F's, P's and C's till we feel balance and achieve optimal performance.

These may help you:

http://www.drsears.com/portals/6/Do...lchart.pdf

http://www.drsears.com/portals/6/Do...Report.doc

Hi Sara - I can't handle a lot of fibrous foods so I never have 3 cups of broccoli, etc. I can't even imagine it. Here are my work arounds -


1/2 cup of onions = 1 block so they can really reduce the volume of food intake. Add them to everything you cook.

Tomatoes - fresh, canned, cooked and a favorite of mine, tomato paste (1/4 cup = 1 block)

Water chestnuts - 1 can = 1 block

Hummus - 3 oz = 1 block. I found a brand called athenos that only has olive oil in it (no bad oils).

Cucumbers


Some of my favorite combos are

1 block cooked onions, 1/2 block cooked zucchini, 1/2 block hummus for 2 blocks

1/2 block water chestnuts, 1/2 block tomato paste for 1 block

1 block canned tomatoes + 1/2 block hummus for 1.5 blocks (add some meat and you've got chili)

Kara,

Tomato sauce and salsa are a palatable way to eat more vegetables, and a plus, you don't need much to make a block, just a mere 1/2 cup. I grew up not liking vegetables, I guess you even could have called me a veggie hater back then. My idea of eating vegetables was a spoonful of corn, a few slices of beets and some green beans now and then, except for during the summertime, when my Dad's backyard garden was in season. I liked all kinds of veggies from the garden. The difference was, straight from the garden they tasted great. Long story short, I eat lots of veggies now. Where there’s a will, there's a way. Keep at it. You mentioned your taste has changed and you now eat some broccoli and green beans. Tomato sauce (as in your favorite Zone friendly pasta sauce) goes well over steamed green beans. Try looking at it as the glass half full...you do like a few veggies. Find a way to make the favorable veggies you like taste even better so you 'll end up eating more of them. Try pairing pairing favorable veggies you think might be able to tolerate with a little bit of carrot or sweet potato together in the same dish. That combo reminds me of a roasted veggie dish I make with fennel onion and celery and a few chunks of carrot. See what you can come up with.


My suggestions earlier in this thread were at lowering your insulin levels while providing you with enough fat to maintain satiety. Switching out a lot of the fruit for veggies and at the same making sure to have enough fat at each meal, and snack will allow you to lower insulin, which in turn should help your satiety. Dropping 1 C block from each meal may further enhance your satiety. Same goes for adding more monounsaturated fat to meals. Try 5 blocks or 6. TI shouldn't be enough to interfere with losing stored fat.

Be sure your goal weight is realistic. If you can manage to lose another 15 pounds eating the Zone Diet, which may be difficult since you're already at the ideal 22% body fat, it might not be the best way to support optimal health.

Sue-

I really like your suggestion for tomato sauce or salsa. I think that could definitely help me out. I need to expand and try new veggies because I am sure there are some out there that I like that I just haven't tried yet. I know for a fact that I hate raw tomatoes. Haha. I am going to grow my own garden next summer also. Buying veggies can get expensive!

I think my goal weight is realistic since I've been that weight before. It's not too low and I looked great at that weight (140).

I'm going to try more variety and I can definitely up the fat intake.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will post what I ate for the day later. I am having frozen yogurt tonight though as a treat, not too much!

You're welcome, Kara.

I've been piecing together your info, and something doesn't quite add up for me. Not sure what you're using for am activity level, but Active would probably be most appropriate.

When calculating my blocks, I put medium to hard 3-5x a week. It gave me 14 blocks.

Sue-

According to the zone block calculator on drsears.com, it says I have 22.90% body fat and should be eating 12 blocks. That's with my activity level set to moderate. If I switch it to active, it goes to 14 blocks. But I don't think I am active when I only train 3 days a week and only one of those days is intense?

Thanks for the info Kara. One factor which will change activity level the most is the amount of strength training you perform. I'm assuming your Crossfit sessions, even those you do on your own on the two other days at the gym, all involve using your body weight as resistance, which is basically an element of strength training. This is the reason I suggested Active. Not knowing your stats, when I saw 14 blocks I had thought you might possibly be using Very Active.

Kara,
I definitely feel that if you can find a way to get in more veggies instead of so much fruit, that will make a huge difference in your hunger. I have been there/done that.

I ate a very small selection of veggies when I first start zoning, but as I tried new things (and new combos), I found that my veggie arsenal was expanding. I enjoy fresh over cooked veggies, in some cases. But, in other cases, I prefer cooked over raw. It just depends... you just have to try those combinations to see what makes it work for you.

Kara

I think if you reduce your fruit and increase your Vegetable intake you will experience better satiety. I was a CrossFit member at one time and continue to do many of the WOD. If you are doing WOD and other activity beyond that you would be "active".

Kara experiment . How do you feel with an extra protein block? How do you feel adjusting your fruits and veg ? etc etc etc.

I think all on these forum pages would agree a journal is a huge help. A journal allows you are vehical that you can use to look at what you ate, what time, how long you felt full.. etc etc.

Larry kept a journal on the forums at one time I think.

(Larry ! You did a journal at one time didn"t you ?? and I believe it helped you dial in his balance. (Do I have that right?)

Yes, Tech Support - the journal really helped me because of all the help Sue and Cranberrycat gave me. I would list what I ate and whether I was hungry or not after. They would offer suggestions, etc. much like this thread.

Thanks for all of your advice! I'll list what I had yesterday. There was a lot of fruit but I haven't ate nearly as much fruit today.

Breakfast- Eggs, scrambled. 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites
1 oz chicken breast
1 apple
1 cup strawberries
9 almonds

I felt hungry right afterwards honestly. I usually do after I always eat.

Mid morning snack- 1 oz chicken breast
1/2 apple
1 serving paleo nutella which is 2 fat blocks

Lunch- 1 oz chicken breast
3 oz pork tenderloin
1 cup green beans
1 cup broccoli/cauliflower mix
1/2 apple
1 serving paleo nutella
6 almonds

Afternoon snack- 1 oz chicken breast
6 almonds
1 cup strawberries

Dinner- 3 oz chicken breast
1/2 cup peas
1 cup broccoli/cauliflower mix
1 fig
9 almonds

And after dinner, I had frozen yogurt with strawberries and raspberries and almonds =X

Kara,
I personally tend to struggle with apples, even though they are considered a favorable carb. With the amount of fruit that you are currently eating, I wonder if it might help you out more to use berries more? Berries have a lower glycemic load than apples do.

I am not surprised that your breakfast left you feeling hungry. Here 's an idea on switching it around, how about topping the eggs with salsa, incorporating a block's worth of black beans, and then having some blueberries on the side. I don't know if you like beans, but beans tend to add some density to meals which makes the meal more sustainable. The salsa could serve as another veggie, and then you would not be eating so much fruit.

Larry, thank you for the nice compliment! I am really glad that I was able to help you out!

I don't eat beans since they aren't paleo! But I took Sue's advice earlier in the thread and put tomato sauce on my veggies for dinner tonight! Matter of fact, I put it all over my entire dinner! I really think I will be able to eat more veggies with tomato sauce on them. I am definitely going to try it. I will definitely try it on some eggs. I do like berries and I feel like I would be fuller since I get to eat more in a sense.

Kara, try a sort of lasagne. Cook the veggies first(onions, mushrooms, spinach, etc.) and then layer steamed thin sliced Zucchini or yellow squash instead of noodles with the cooked veggies, protein and tomato sauce. Bake until its all bubbly. I do an 8 X12 pan so you have leftovers for other meals.

Forgot to say, if you cut the squash lengthwise and lay all the slices in the same direction in the baking dish it easily stays together when cut in large squares, just like a real lasagna. The leftovers taste good cold, too.

Thanks! I actually have a recipe on pinterest saved for that! I will have to try it out. Doubt I could get the hubby to eat it though!